


The Calm Tempest

by zippymom97



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, F/F, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Punkstuck, Smut, buildup to smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2018-04-18 14:55:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4710038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zippymom97/pseuds/zippymom97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dirk runs a tattoo parlour and just fired his piercer, Karkat, and needs to hire a new one. To his luck, a brown haired young man with glasses comes in looking for the job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS HAS BEEN EDITED. I'M FIXING UP THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS
> 
> I LITERALLY HAD TO DELETE THE ENTIRE FUCKING SECOND CHAPTER AND PUT THE JANE/JAKE BIT AT THE END OF THIS ONE SO PLEASE RE-READ.

* * *

Stretching with a yawn as he woke up, Dirk reached over to shut off his alarm clock and grab his sunglasses. He went to the bathroom and showered, washing his tattooed skin and shampooing his blonde hair with black streaks. He sighed as he stepped out and towelled off, rubbing his hair dry before wiping down his toned, muscular body.  Today would be another day at the tattoo parlour. Tedious as it may be, he loved his business and his job.

He would have to look into hiring a new piercer today. He had had a fight with his old one, Karkat. He always had to pick fight over the smallest things and it was eventually just too much for Dirk to handle so he fired him and told him to never come back, to which he flipped him the bird, told him to fuck himself, and told him where he could stick his tattoo gun before storming out of the shop. Dirk sighed and ran a hand through his still-damp hair, walking out of the steamy bathroom to go get dressed for the inevitably long day ahead.

Once dressed, he grabbed the keys and headed downstairs to open up his tattoo and piercing shop, _The Calm Tempest_. He unlocked the shop, turned on the lights with a satisfied sigh, made sure all the needles and kits were clean and in order, and flipped around the open sign before heading to his desk to pull out a piece of paper saying that they would be temporarily unable to offer piercings until they could hire a new one, and another to say ‘PIERCER WANTED’. He wrote the signs in black sharpie and taped them up to the door, returning to his desk at the back of the room.

He started looking online for piercers and spent a few hours on this, to not much luck. He sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing his face heavily with this hands, sighing at his luck. He had no choice but to fire Karkat, it was just impossible to work with him any longer. He sighed again, resting his face on his cheeks, looking glumly at his desktop. Just then, the bell on the door jingled and a young man about the same age as Dirk walked in, out of breath, leaning against the door with a flushed face and hands on his knees, holding a few sheets of papers in one hand.

He looked up over the rim of his glasses to make eye contact with Dirk and hold up a finger until he could catch his breath better. Once he had, he came over to the desk, leaning on it, still panting a fair bit. The young brunette passed the papers to him on the desk. It was a resume.

“Hi…I saw your… sign on the door… and I wanted… to apply here.” The man panted out.

Dirk nodded and indicated for him to sit down because he looked like he definitely needed it. He picked up the papers and looked them over.

**Jake English, 21, Male, Tattoo and Piercing Artist.**

_Hm. Nice, does he have any experience?_ Dirk thought as his eyes skimmed further down the page. He had worked at a few, in a bunch of different locations. _Does he travel a lot?_ As he wondered this, he got AR to run a background check on Jake to double check that he wasn’t a pedophile or serial killer or anything major. As AR did that, Dirk looked up at Jake, who was now fidgeting nervously in his seat. He noticed Dirk looking up at him and quickly glanced up to meet his gaze, looking expectant and eager.

“So, do you have any photos of some of your work?” Dirk said, looking back down at the papers again, checking out his qualifications.

“Ah- oh! Yes, they’re on my phone, just give me a second to scroll back far enough to find it.”

“Yeah, sure, go for it.” Just then, AR got back with the background check, he was all clear. Now just to see some of his work and he’d be in. Well, he would be in no matter what, he was qualified to do piercings and body modifications which was good enough. Jake pulled up an image on his phone of a very elaborate and detailed grim reaper with his hands folded across his chest, then he swiped to the side to show a skull with snakes running through it, then to a flaming nymph, then to a _really_ hot picture of him shirtless and pulling down the waistband of his shorts. Dirk’s eyes widened as he struggled to keep his composure, a bit of a flush rising to his cheeks a he fought a boner. Jake quickly realized that wasn’t the right picture and stammered and flicked to the next one which was of a darkening and dying rose. He was beet red and still blathering on.

“Jake, its fine. It’s a bare chest, nothing I haven’t seen before. I see it all the time here. I really like your tats by the way. Oh and you’re hired.”

“But still an employer shouldn’t se- wait seriously?”

“Yeah, you’re qualified, your work is fucking sick as hell, and you can pierce. And you don’t have a criminal record. That’s all that matters. You can go take those signs off the window now as your first job.”

Jake beamed, and damn was he cute when he smiled. “Sure thing, boss!” he said happily, before his face fell, realizing something, "Wait, you didn't even type anything on your computer, how do you know I don't have a criminal record, mister..?"

“Strider, Dirk Strider, and that's for me to know and for you to possibly find out later. After all, I am a man of mystery. Nevertheless, I am glad to have you here."

He held his hand out as a greeting to his new employee and co-worker, smiling at him warmly. They shook and Dirk tasked Jake in taking down the sign while Dirk got out the paperwork for new employees. Jake came back and Dirk handed him the paperwork and a pen, and he sat down and filled it out. As he wrote, Dirk studied him.

Jake had a lovely profile and he would make a great drawing subject. Dirk’s mind wandered to that one photo Jake had accidentally shown him, and his mind started filling in the blanks, and before his train of thought could go any further, Jake was handing the papers back with a smile.

“Thanks,” He took them and filled them away. "I have a client coming in this morning, and people don't usually drop in this early so you can just chill at the front desk and pretend like you know what you're doing while I tattoo."

"Ok, sounds good. Does this computer have solitaire?"

Dirk chuckled and nodded, surprised at the question.

* * *

 

In the time before the expected arrival of said client, Dirk was just starting the explaination of the Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff tattoo he had on his shoulder when he heard a jingle at the front door and looked up. A well-dressed woman crossed the threshold to the counter elegantly.

“Appointment for Kanaya Maryam?”

“Hmmm… let’s see… ah, there you are. Ten minutes ahead of schedule, I see. I admire people with punctuality.” Dirk made a show of pretending to look it up, as I anyone else would be here this early. He lead her to one of the back rooms, allowing her to get seated and comfortable while he went to get the necessary supplies.

“Thank you, I quite enjoy people like that too.” She said, putting her purse down under her chair, smiling at him.

“I’ll be right back with the stencil and ink, if you could be ready for me in about 3-5 minutes….?”

“I shall.” She nodded and waited until he left to stand up and remove her underwear and pull up her dress enough so that he would have access to her lower buttock and upper thigh.

Dirk returned with the stencil and let it hover above her thigh. “Here?” She nodded and he placed the stencil down on her thigh, smoothing it out so that all of the image was transferred, and lifted the peel.

He grabbed a mirror and lifted it so she could see the stencil in the reflection. “Still want it? Last chance to back out.”

“I’m positive.”

“Just making sure.” Dirk said with a chuckle as he put the mirror down and grabbed the black ink to get the outline started and a cloth to wipe up the blood.

He positioned himself on the chair by her thigh, shaking the ink bottle before attaching it to the needle. He turned on the needle and started tattooing, hearing her hiss in pain only once out of shock when he first started, and after that she didn’t make a sound. _Tough, elegant, polite, and punctual. She is one hell of a woman._

He finally finished the linework that covered the transfer, then he went over to his station to wash his needle and switch to the shading needles he used for colouring. He put the red ink in the machine and sat back down, letting Kanaya know when he was about to start.

A few hours later, he stood up, stretching his back as he looked at the finished product. “Dammmn, I did good. You mind if I take a picture of this for my portfolio?” he asked her as he went to go get the aftercare kit and wash.

“No not at all. Could I see the photo when you’ve taken it?”

“Of course, madam, that is exactly what I was intending to do.” He exchanged a smile with her and cleaned up the tattoo really well and took his phone out and snapped a photo of the red, long stemmed rose going up her thigh. He took a few and once he had one that looked good, he came around to show her how it looked.

She gasped in awe, her eyes lighting up. “Oh, Dirk… it looks gorgeous… thank you so much.”

“Just doing my job. Hang on, don’t go anywhere yet, I’ve still got to put the ointment on and cover it.”

As he did that, Jake manned the desk, hoping to god that no-one would come in because Dirk hadn’t yet told him what exactly to do to man the front desk. Luckily, no one came in, and Dirk emerged from a back room with a very pretty and sophisticated-looking woman in a flowy dress. He was giving her the typical after-tattoo spiel, and he jumped as he heard a woman speak behind him that he hadn’t heard approach.

“Pretty fancy for just going to get a tattoo, Kanaya.” A blonde woman said to the one that just emerged from the back room. “Do I get to see it?”

“It’s already wrapped but I took a picture of it for my portfolio that I can show you.”

“Yes please, that would be greatly appreciated.”

He passed her the phone and handed Kanaya the aftercare kit and rang her through the till. The blonde “awwwwwwwe”d and passed the phone back to Dirk. “That’s almost as sweet as if you had my name tattooed on you.”

“Essentially. However, in the event that we do not work out at least it looks beautiful and I won’t need to have it removed.” The two linked arms and started heading out the door.

“That’s true…” Their conversation faded as they walked out of earshot.

A somewhat uncomfortable silence descended on the two males. Jake was the one who decided to speak first.

“So, as you were saying, about that tattoo…”

* * *

 

After the day was done and they closed shop, Dirk noticed that Jake started walking home, and on impulse, decided to give him a ride.

"Hey, why don't I give you a lift home?" The blonde asked, his keys in hand.

"Oh, I doubt that's really necessary..."

"Come on, I saw your address on your resume; you're practically across town."

Jake sighed and nodded as Dirk unlocked his car. They hopped in and buckled up.

"Speaking of, what brought you there anyway?"

"I actually saw your add online about the store opening a few months back and I've been saving up for a design, but I got booted from my old job and I wanted to at least get the details on the place so I could know how good you were, etc. Anyway, I saw your sign and I ran home to print off a resume before coming back."

Dirk let out a small chuckle. “I admire the commitment and work ethic. So, how’d you like your first day?"

“Exhilarating! There were so many people and they were very friendly for the most part!”

Dirk nodded, "My clients are pretty nice over-all." 

There was another silence. After a moment Dirk turned to Jake “Where did you learn to shade like that by the way?”

Jake shrugged, “I suppose I was just pretty good at pencil shading, and after a little practice I got good at tattoo shading as well.”

Dirk turned back to face the road; “I’ll have to watch and see how you do it sometime, then.”

Jake nodded in agreement and let the silence return. 

They had arrived at his house so he thanked Dirk graciously for the ride and the job, asking what time he should be there tomorrow before saying goodbye. 

As Dirk pulled away from the curb, Jake ran his hands through his hair and sighed; he had a feeling he was really going to like working there. 

_____________

Jake was on the phone with Jane, as usual. The two were pretty close and he called her often to update her on life and vent his feelings. Jane usually liked these calls and little chats. Except if they went past the hour and a half mark. Which it often did. 

This one was currently overstaying its welcome. Jane was waiting for her cake to finish baking but she really had to go to the bathroom and wanted to hang up so she could do so. 

Jake was currently going on about his new job at the tattoo parlour he was going to work at, his hot new boss who he accidentally showed a semi-NSFW photo to, and how his boss honestly seemed to like it, and how that had hope for his love life, yadda yadda yadda...

Jake went on for a while about this, and Jane's patience was wearing thin, again. This went unnoticed to Jake, AGAIN. But of course, she was far too nice of a person to really do anything about it so she chose to excuse herself when the cake timer went off. 

They hung up and she immediately went to the bathroom, sighing in relief as she washed her hands. 

She grabbed the cake out of the oven and set the timer to let it cool before putting the icing on it, taking a well-needed nap in the meantime. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake meets the ever-pleasant Karkat, the piercer that used to work at the parlour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been edited slightly.

Dirk woke up at his usual time, same as always, made himself breakfast and coffee, got dressed and went downstairs to open up shop. He was watching Stevens Universe last night on a reccomendation from his friend Roxy, and he ended up really liking it and then marathoning it. He scrubbed his face and turned on the light, thankful that his shades protected him partially from the intensity of the glare.

He booted up the computer and went around and freshly sanitized all the tables, chairs, and equipment. Once that was done, Dirk sat down at his desk and stared blankly and tiredly at his computer screen, his desktop already up and ready to go. Dirk didn't notice this, his head slouched on a hand, his mouth partially open in a dumbfounded stare at the monitor, his eyes drooping ever lower, lower, lower. His consciousness slipping, slipping, gone. Luckily for him his elbow was propped well enough that when the muscles in his arm went limp, his head didn't hit the desk.

What felt like only moments later there was a loud rapping at the door, and Dirk bolted awake, falling out of his seat and onto the floor; an action that did not go unnoticed to the patron that had knocked. His arm was wet with drool and there was a copious puddle of the substance on the desk where he had fallen asleep. He mumbled a profanity or two as he quickly wiped his hand on his jeans and wiped the rest of his arm off with his shirt. Still cursing under his breath, Dirk went to answer the door and face whatever ridicule that might be launched at him.

"Good morning, dear chap!" Jake chirped happily as soon as the door was opened to him. He stepped inside and hung his coat up on the rack just inside the door.

"Thedoorwasunlockedyanno" was the only reply his greeting garnered from the groggy Strider, who meandered over to lay down on one of the tattoo chairs.

"Oh, well then. I'm not quite positive it was. Not quite awake yet, are we?" Jake asked, still way to friggan chipper for Dirk's liking, as he sat down on the stool alongside the chair Dirk was laying on.

"Not even fucking close" The blonde grunted and rolled into a more comfortable position, away from the sunlight. "Wake me up if there's a customer. Do whatever the fuck you want in the meantime. There's games on the computer and shit. Just don't go rooting through folders and crap, mmkay?"

"Cross my heart boss!" Jake replied, hopping up from the stool as he made his way over to the computer. He thought he heard Dirk mumble something along the lines of "Don't call me that" but the brunette couldn't be certain.

Jake scanned the icons on the desktop. There were several that he recognized. There was Mozzarella Flamefox as the main web browser, an application labelled PESTERCHUM in all caps, several folders that had no names, only numbers, another application called Complete Bullshit, a recycle bin, a Macrosoft Office folder, what was probably a virus cleaning software, and something called Note++.

Jake moved the mouse over the start menu and went to games. He stuck with a good old fashioned game of solitaire and alternated between that and checking for customers. He kept doing this for a while, noticing people come up to the front of the shop, stop, look in at them, but not enter. It took Jake a fair bit to realize that Dirk had forgotten to plug in the OPEN sign. Jake soon remedied that and went back to his solitaire until he heard the bell chime and someone barged in.

Jake nudged Dirk awake and went to go talk to the man that walked in. "Do you have an appointment or are you a drop-in?"

"WHAT DOES IT MATTER TO YOU?! WHO EVEN ARE YOU?! IS THIS MY REPLACEMENT?! WITH HOW MUCH OF A SHITHOLE THIS PLACE IS, I'M SURPRISED YOU FOUND SOMEONE THIS FAST."

Dirk rose to his feet and walked over to the short, angry man, knowing already who it was without having even to open his eyes. "Karkat, how nice of you to visit. Still pleasant as ever, I see."

"CUT THE SHIT, DIRK, I CAME BACK FOR MY STUFF."

"Then stop being an asshole and just go fucking grab it!"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO." Karkat quipped angrily as he stormed out of the room to go fetch whatever it was he forgot.

Dirk sighed exhaustedly and sat down on the chair he had been laying on, running a hand over his face then through his hair, rolling his eyes. He could tell that Jake was about to ask, or at least that he wanted to. He didn't really care enough at the moment to beat him to the punch and answer before he could ask, so he waited in silence until he did. Turns out it was longer than Dirk had originally thought. Jake had waited until Karkat left (not without slinging a few more insults at Dirk) to ask.

"Erm…. Sooo…. What exactly just happened?"

"You have just had the displeasure of meeting my ex-co-worker, Karkat. He was the piercer I fired. As you can clearly see why."

Jake chuckled nervously, "Aha, yes, he seems like…quite the fellow."

"Well, that's one way to put it, sure. Sorry you had to deal with that."

"Oh, no, it's quite alright." Jake replied, and Dirk merely nodded, and they sat in somewhat uncomfortable silence as Dirk grabbed a sketchbook and started doodling.

At a lack of what to do, Jake went back to the computer and resumed his game of solitaire. They continued on like this for at least 15 minutes.

"He is honestly such a douche though! He just barges in here like he fucking owns the place and bitches at you even though you haven't even met him. He just…pisses me off so much. He is like that constantly, and that is the exact reason why I fired him. He is absolutely insufferable."

"Well, I'm sure if you started out on his good side and took the time to get to know him, he wouldn't be all that bad."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, until he started going all 'I'm-always-right-and-here's-why-you-can-suck-my-dick' about all the small things. He would criticize my work day in and day out and then we had a big fight one day about him getting his act together and that was that."

"Ah, I see." Jake said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It doesn't look like you'll be making friends any time soon."

"Not a fucking chance."

"Didn't think so. So on other topics, do you have any siblings?"

"Well, sort of. He's sort of a celebrity and he's never really been around much. I essentially raised myself. What about you?"

"No, no siblings, my grandmother raised me, and she died one day when she was out hunting; a bear got her. I was pretty young too."

"Sorry to hear that. Wait, she was hunting bears?"

"No, she was hunting moose and a bear got her."

"JESUS! Where the fuck did you live?"

"To be frank, I'm not quite certain. It was on an island somewhere. She had specific parameters set up for my safety in the event of her death and someone came and got me and brought me here."

"Wow, that's… I don't really know how to respond to that."

"Seems pretty far-fetched, huh?"

"Well, just a little. But nothing too out of the ordinary."

"Wha- Really? You don't think it's unbelievable?"

"No, not really." Dirk shrugged and chewed on his pencil.

"Well then." Jake said awkwardly, putting some aces up into their spots.

"Mhm. I'm just glad I never took Karkat up when he asked me out. The fallout from that would be ten times as worse."

"W-wait, he asked you out?" Jake sputtered in surprise.

"Yeah. He's not my type at all though." Dirk said calmly, taking his pencil out of his mouth and continuing to sketch.

"S-so… then, what is your type?" Jake tried his hardest to resist the blush that was creeping into his cheeks. He thanked the gods that Dirk wasn't looking at him.

Dirk took a deep inhale and sighed, setting his sketchbook and pencil aside and turning to face him. Knowing that Dirk was looking at his face made Jake blush harder and he didn't have the slightest idea why. "My type isn't limited to a specific set of characteristics, it's defined by personality."

Dirk smirked as he continued, watching Jake grow ever more flustered. "Buuuuuut, tall, rugged, cute, and spontaneous fits my type. Just in case you were wondering."

Jake blushed scarlet and hid behind the computer screen and buried himself in his solitaire. He was so wrapped up in the game that he didn't hear Dirk coming up beside him, leaning against the desk the computer was on beside Jake, somewhat close to him, looking up at him with a slight smoulder in his eyes, "Why do you ask?"

Jake sputtered and went redder, unable to respond for a bit. Once he had regained his composure, he blathered out "J-just curious is all."

Jake still couldn't meet his eyes, but they stayed like that for a bit, Dirk gazing at him with Jake glancing at Dirk out of the corner of his eye every so often, getting flustered once again when he noticed Dirk was still watching him.

Dirk decided after about ten seconds, which to Jake felt like an eternity, to leave the poor boy alone for now. He stood up and moved back to his sketch book, putting an extra sway in his hips that Jake tried in vain not to watch.

He didn't know why he was acting like this. He had had an inkling that he wasn't straight for some time now but had never had any proof. He had never met any women that could keep up with his adventurous nature and sweet side he had hidden beneath his punky exterior. Dirk was definitely flirting with him but Jake still wasn't sure where his own sexuality lied. He let out a small sigh and remembered the words of the song that his grandmother used to sing merrily around the house.

"Que sera, sera." He breathed out loud, the words lacking the melody they usually held when tumbling from his lips. He decided to just let whatever was going to happen, happen. Dirk was probably going to flirt with him more, so why not flirt back?

* * *

 

The day went on and passed without any further flirting, a turn of events both to Jake's dismayal and at the same time, to his relief. Jake hadn't been too sure of how confident he would have sounded if he had tried to flirt back. Not to mention the fact that he would have had no idea what to even say. He gave a small sigh of mainly relief and grabbed his coat to leave.

"Have a good day, Jake." Dirk said as the brunette put his coat on.

"Thank you kindly, you too, dear friend!" Jake smiled warmly at him and headed out the door, which Dirk locked behind him.

Jake walked on his merry way and a few minutes in, froze and inwardly cursed himself for potentially sounding like he friendzoned Dirk.

Dirk unplugged the open sign and slumped down on the floor. He leaned his head back against the door and hit it against said door a few times. For the first time, he stopped to ask himself what the fuck he thought he was getting himself into.

Fuck, so typical of you, Strider. Don't even stop for two fucking seconds to ask yourself if this is a good idea or not. Fucking genius you are.

He sighed again and stopped beating himself up about what an idiot he was and contemplated on if he should actually become romantically involved with his new employee. Hadn't he just said earlier that he was so glad that he didn't go out with Karkat? Waiting a while and getting to know the guy would be a wiser move. Dirk decided to hold off on the flirting for a while. Besides, he really didn't want to be accidentally making the guy uncomfortable and end up with a sexual harassment charge on his back. It was better if he didn't.

Speaking of flirting, meanwhile, at the English residence, Jake was frantically looking up pick-up lines and flirting techniques. He practiced many ways to deliver it and found that his preferred method of choice was with double pistols and a wink. Golly he felt so suave doing this! He would be getting all the ladies like this! Er- well, or gentlemen as well, he supposed.

Little did Jake know that this work would be for naught, the flirts would not come his way tomorrow, nor the next. He spent many more hours practicing, researching and rehearsing. When dawn came next morning, he was ready. He hopped out of bed and eagerly prepared for the day ahead.


	3. Chapter 3

Jake waltzed into work, confident as can be. He strutted with the air of a confident peacock, as he sauntered over to the Strider, going about the increasingly more familiar tasks as per usual. He eagerly anticipated Dirk’s flirtatious advances. Advances that would not come. Not today.

“Someone’s looking chipper.” Dirk mentioned as he saw the brunette enter the store with…not a smile….was Jake smirking? He was. Dirk had only known Jake for a few days now but he did not seem like the mischievous type. Well, he supposed this was just a side to him he had not seen yet. He shrugged it off and continued to manage the shop finances on the computer. Jake pulled a sketchbook out of his bag and became enraptured in it until he finished whatever it was he was drawing.

When he finally looked up, he seemed like he had a small epiphany. “Oh, I nearly forgot! One of my pals mentioned here or there that she was looking into getting a tattoo. She said that she had a bit of time around noon to come in today, if that would be manageable?”

“Yeah. That’s fine, practically no one comes in around lunch. We should be fine.” Dirk said, not looking up from his computer.

"Alright, stupendous, just thought I should check." Jake said, putting his sketchbook away and coming to stand behind Dirk, standing particularly close. Dirk could feel his face heating up as he cleared his throat and focused harder on the monitor. Jake asked as innocently as he could “What have you got there, chum?”

Dirk pushed the butterflies in his stomach down and tried to ignore them. He gathered his composure and replied in his Strider calm, “The boring part of this business.”

Jake leaned in closer, his breath ghosting over Dirk’s neck, supposedly reading the screen in order to see what was there. He let out a short scoff and leaned back a little, no longer leaning over Dirk’s shoulder to see the screen. “Well doesn't that look like a rally,” his voice was dripping with sarcasm. He paused for a bit, then smirked and leaned in to whisper in Dirks ear seductively, “But you know what may be a little more enticing?”

Dirk choked on his own saliva. Real fucking smooth Strider, he thought to himself, fighting a blush to the best of his abilities whilst hacking and coughing like a fucking tool.  
Jake noticed this and covered up his mouth to suppress his chuckle, finding the whole ordeal quite frankly amusing. Eventually, he reached out a hand to help him, patting him gently on the back, “Crimony, Strider! Are you alright? I could swear you were trying to hack up a lung!”

Dirk was more than grateful for the fact that Jake had expressed his concern, and in the process of doing so, given Dirk an opportunity to avoid his earlier comment. “Yeah,” he said a little raspily, “I’m fine”

“Well as long as you’re alright, Strider.” Jake said with a hint of amusement in his voice and his hand still placed between Dirk’s shoulder blades. He had the most adorable, bemused expression on his face and Dirk couldn’t stop staring. He was transfixed with this goddamn goofy, cute, nerdy, guy and he didn’t know what he was going to do about it. Dirk could feel himself leaning in. He knew he shouldn’t, but he found himself unable of stopping. Jake was leaning in too, curious what Dirk’s lips would feel like on his own, and soon enough they were centimeters apart once again, breathing the same air.

Dirk reached his hand up to caress the side of Jake’s face and pull him closer when just then, the bell chimed on the door and a customer walked in. The two jumped apart. Dirk sighed both in relief and in disappointment, standing up to deal with the customer and leaving behind a blushing and flustered Jake.

“I-I’m sorry about that, was I interrupting anything?” the customer asked when Dirk came up to her, a light blush adorning her cheeks in embarrassment or shame, Dirk wasn’t sure which.

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “No its fine, Miss. How can I help you?”

As he took her over to the front desk to book her an appointment for next week while Jake slowly recovered, his thoughts reeling. He had been prepared for Dirk to flirt back, but not that. He ran a finger over his lips and let his mind wonder what would have happened had the woman not walked in.  
She walked out and gave Jake a wink and mouthed ‘call me’ to him despite the fact that she had never given him her number, leaving Jake to be somewhat puzzled as the door swung shut behind her.

The silence fell over them and settled in to all the crevices of the room, filling it with awkward tension.

They felt the tension like a physical weight, pressing down on them. They were doing their best to keep their eyes off of each other and failing miserably.  
Every so often, their eyes would meet, and they would quickly look away, Jake blushing, and Dirk covering up his blush and suppressing the fluttering feeling in his stomach. On his face, he was deadpan, but inside he was a mix of emotions.

Jake was the first one to try to talk. “So, erm, I hear that the gas prices have gone up again.” He offered awkwardly, attempting to relieve some of the tension.

“That sucks, but doesn’t really bother me too much. I typically use my e-bike in the summer so my legs are beefed by the fall.”

“How exactly do those e-bikes work, if I might ask?”

“Umm, there’s like a battery storage and you can chose to pedal it to produce and store energy, or you can run the energy that you already made by pedalling and ride it like a moped.”

“FASCINATING! That is stupendously genius!!” Jake gasped, estatic.

Dirk’s gaze softened and he had to suppress a smile at Jake’s enthusiasm, he was absolutely ecstatic about the brilliancy of these spunky new gadgets. Dirk wasn’t really paying attention, and at a lull in Jake’s prattle he cut in with “Do you wanna go for a ride on mine sometime?”

Jakes eyes absolutely lit up and nodded enthusiastically “BLIMEY, of course I would!!”

“Good, I’ll make sure that it’s the ride of your life.” Dirk said with a smirk, casually slipping in an innuendo when Jake was not expecting it. Unfortunately for Dirk, the double entendre was lost on Jake in the midst of his excitement.

“Technology isn’t your strong suit is it?” Dirk inquired the chipper lad.

He stopped and smiled sheepishly at Dirk, shaking his head and responding with “Heh, ah, not really. I do try to keep up to date but it is certainly not easy with how fast things are coming out.”

Dirk suppressed a snort and used every ounce of willpower to not make a joke about it. “It happens to be my area. I actually build robots in my spare time.”

Once again, his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. He had a feeling Jake would want to see his workshop. God why the hell is Jake so goddamn adorable when he gets excited like this. Annnnd I just called him adorable. Great. So much for not crushing on him.

Jake saw him smiling and smiled back warmly, catching Dirk off-guard. “So, chap, do I get to see these cool spare-time robots?”

Dirk let out a chuckle, “If you want, sure. I didn’t think you would be interested in that kind of stuff.”

“Dirk, that is absurd! Of course would be interested in that! Do you have ones that work?”

“A few, if I’m not satisfied with it I’ll use it for parts for a new project.”

Jake nodded and refrained from jumping up and down like a giddy schoolgirl. His excitement was impossible to hide, however. Dirk couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth turn up. God he was just so adorable. His heart skipped a few beats and he kicked himself mentally. No Strider should be falling this hard this fast. He was a disgrace.

“I feel like I need to go and cut some shit down with my katana. Or-or punch stuff or something. God, can you take care of the shop for like 5 minutes so I can go and re-masculate myself?”

“Erm, and why exactly do you need to go do that?”

“Just… I have to, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, alright. Have fun with your…. Re-masculation or whatnot."

“Mhm.” Dirk walked up to his apartment, grabbed a sword out of the fridge and headed out back to go cut stuff.

* * *

 

7 minutes later, he returned, a little out of breath and glistening slightly with a faint sheen of sweat. Jake had to say it made him look quite attractive. Jake swallowed around the lump that had formed in his throat, and looked away, trying to regain his composure and suppress the blush on his cheeks.

Dirk didn’t notice and put the blade down behind the desk, not wanting to put it upstairs.

“Better now?” Jake asked, trying to get his mind off how handsome Dirk was looking and the pheromones that were pouring off of him. Not to mention the fact that the blonde looked mighty appealing with a sword.

Dirk nodded silently. “Did any customers come in while I was gone?” Jake shook his head and continued to work on the drawing he had started in Dirk’s absence.

The blonde bobbed his head in acceptance. Dirk was silent and stone-faced. He went around and disinfected everything again, even though it had already been done that morning. When that was done he checked that there were no email-in appointments, a task that took about 3 minutes, leaving him bored and highly restless.

“Dirk, are you alright?” Jake said, noting his odd behaviour, looking up from his sketch to watch Dirk pace about the shop.

Dirk pivoted around and looked at Jake, full of animal instinct and ferality. The look on Jake’s face was so innocent, so pure, Dirk couldn’t help but rush towards him to claim his lips in a passionate kiss. The look on Jake’s face stopped him though. He looked like a frightened deer in headlights. He froze in his tracks.

His hand was resting on Jake’s face and their lips were close. Dirk stood up quickly, broken out of his reverie, and quickly walked away from Jake to go work on the computer again. Jake looked mildly crushed and downtrodden, having been so close two times in a day been so close and both times have it be taken away from him. It was plain as day that Dirk had feelings for him, so why did he keep hesitating?

Jake had half a mind to march right up to Dirk and kiss him since the blonde couldn’t seem to summon the balls to do it. But there was something about the scowl on his face that stopped him from doing so.

* * *

 

The rest of the day passed without a word between them. Jake went home and threw his coat at the wall in frustration.

_What the fuck is he doing? Does he think he’s playing some kind of fucking game?! Just stringing my heart along for the ride? Toying with my love as if it’s- love? No, no, I don’t love him, I couldn’t love Strider this soon. Affections. That’s a better word for it. Toying with my affections. Although, isn’t that what I was planning on doing to him? No, no, flirting and toying with emotions are different. What on earth is going through his blasted head? Sometimes I wonder._

Jake tossed his keys and phone on the counter and flopped down on the sofa. He scrubbed his face with his hands, sighing. He let his hands fall down his face and he opened his eyes to look up at his bland, white ceiling.

He heard his phone buzz from the countertop upon which he so hastily put it. Jake promptly ignored it, whomever it was could wait; he was most certainly not in the mood for it right now.

He rolled over into the depths of the couch, hearing the phone buzz a few more times in the distance, before he dozed off into a peaceful sleep.

Meanwhile, the woman on the other end of the phone was quite miffed at the brunette’s lack of response.

Jane Crocker fumed quietly, muttering under her breath. Jake was still not answering. She huffed out a sigh and set her phone down, putting on a fake mustache to keep her spirits up, twirling the tips of it between her fingers.

She had been trying to remind him about the fact they were to hang out after he got off of work. Jane also needed advice on the fact that her friend Roxy may or may not be flirting with her. She rolled her eyes, standing up and heading into the kitchen to make some sweets and confectionery for herself for once and not the bake shop she ran.

She had no idea how to handle the situation. Roxy was a drunkard, and even though Jane did not condone her perpetual state of inebrium (a few drinks every now and then doesn’t hurt), Roxy continued to drink her issues with her mother away. Jane let out a sad sigh, Roxy had been on her way to becoming a scientist, a major in ectobiology, but that all crashed down when her mother died.

Jane had done her best to comfort Roxy in her time of need, and the blonde was grateful for it; however she found more comfort in the bottle, and occasionally harsher substances. Her whole career, three years in university, wasted away and now she has resorted to staying inside her house and making small money from hacking gigs and selling viruses and malware.  
At this point Jane had finished making the red velvet cupcake batter from scratch, and went to find the cupcake tray and the wrappers. As she did, her phone went off and she peered over to see who it was.

When she saw who it was from and what the message said, she dropped the tray and fell to her knees with a hand over her mouth, her world tumbling before her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk to the rescue

Dirk had been on his way to the store when he had received the message from Roxy. It had been panicked and surprisingly sober, albeit rushed. He had run home as fast as he could and hopped into his truck and floored it.

Roxy was in trouble. Roxy was in _deep_ trouble. And she was counting on Dirk to bail her out of it. At least this time it wasn’t actually her fault that she was in trouble. From what Dirk could decipher from her hurried texts, there was someone after her and she may or may not get assaulted and/or raped. Dirk was, for the first time in a while, scared shitless.

He knew better than to try and call her; if she was hiding from them he could blow her cover. He frantically texted her back to call him and tell him where she was. He could only hope the sound on her phone was off.

Meanwhile, mildly intoxicated but quickly sobering up, Roxy pulled her vibrating phone out of its place in her bra. It was Dirk, and it seemed like he was asking her whereabouts. She didn’t have time to stop her sprint to check. She quickly unlocked her phone and told Siri to call Dirk, setting it to speaker and sticking it back in her bra in order to glance back before hurrying up a fire escape.

For now she couldn’t see them and hoped by hitting the rooftops she could shake them. It was riskier but much faster if one was physically fit enough. From her new heightened point of view, she glanced down the alleyway she was running down and sighed in relief when she didn’t see them.

“Roxy?! Where are you? What the hell happened?!” Dirk’s voice said from her cleavage.

“Oh my god, Dirk, you are a fucking godsend. Right now I’m on the rooftops and I wanna make sure I shook them off properly, can you track me on your car's GPS from my cell signal?" 

“No!! Who do you think I am? Fucking CIA?! I can’t do that but depending on who you pissed off, they might be able to track you the longer you’re on it. Just gain some ground and get to a hotel or some shit and stay there until I can get there. Text me the address and then get rid of that phone”

“DIRK, Chill. They aren’t that badass to track my ce-“

“DO IT ANYWAY. I WANT YOU TO BE SAFE.”

“OK, FINE. I gotta go be parkour as fuck, be right back!”

“You go girl” Dirk said encouragingly before hanging up and letting her get to it.

* * *

 Jane was busy cleaning up the mess she made when she heard the phone ring. She scrambled to go and get it, frantically pressing the button and moving the phone to her ear. 

“Hello? Rox?!!” 

“No, this is Dirk, Roxy is fine for now, I’m going to go pick her up now. I’ll let you know once I get her if she’s ok. She texted me your number and told me to call you." 

“Ok, thank you. Um, what did you say your name was again? Dick?” 

“No, _Dirk_. With an ‘r’. You must be Jane.”

“That would be correct.” 

“Nice to finally meet you. Sort of. I better focus on making sure our favorite blonde is ok.”

“Thank you.” Jane clicked off her phone, and Dirk did likewise, tossing his phone on the driver’s seat as he turned to his dash panel, trying to hone his gps on her cell signal.

He built robots, he coded, but he wasn’t a hacker. Hacking was Roxy’s game. Hacking and being a drunk mad scientist-y cat loving wizard.

He thought to himself how if he was straight, he would have fallen for her pretty easily. He let out a small sigh before checking the GPS. It had found her and she wasn’t far. He pressed a button and got the panel to dial Roxy.

The call almost went to voicemail but she picked it up at the last second, panting. “Hi.”

“Got your position and I’m tailing you now.Stop wherever, I’ll do the same. Make sure you drop the cell on the rooftop before you go.”

“Yes, _father_.” she chided.

Dirk scoffed, “See you soon.”

“Bye, hot stuff!”

* * *

He continued following her position until she came to a stop, and he pulled up to the front of the building that happened to be a hotel, smirking as he imagined her knocking on some random person’s 30th floor balcony window and the look on their faces as she dashed into the apartment and straight out the front door.

A few minutes later, Roxy strolled out of the hotel and made a dash for Dirk’s car. As soon as her door was shut, he pulled out and sped off, not even waiting for her to buckle up.

“Did you toss the cell?”

“Yes of course I did! God, who do you take me for? I did take out the media and SIM card tho."

Dirk rolled his eyes at her and handed her his cellphone. “Call Jane and let her know you’re ok, I bet she wants to hear from you personally."

Dirk focused on the road and zoned out of what Roxy was saying to Jane. So much for getting milk, this night had done a full 180° from what it had been. He smirked and pulled a cigarette out of a compartment in his car, sighing.

He had been meaning to get rid of all of them but he hadn't gotten to the ones in the car yet. He could not have been more thankful for small mercies. He rolled down the window and pulled out a lighter.

Upon hearing the click, Roxy’s head flew around in appalled anger. She quickly told Jane she had to go and ended the call before unleashing her wrath. “I thought you were quitting, _mister_.”

“I am. Hopefully this is my last one. It was by pure chance that I still had any in the car. But can you honestly blame me after tonight?”

Her gaze softened as she turned to look out the front windshield once more. He heard her mumble a small “no…”

“Yeah. That's what I thought.” He said as he took a drag and rolled down the window to blow out the smoke. He rested his elbow out the open window.

Roxy sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She put her head in her hand as she gazed out the window. A minute of silence passed and Roxy turned to look at Dirk, “You know what, you’re right. Gimme your phone I need to text my dealer, I need to get high”

“Roxyyyyyy….”

“Can you blame me?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes at his words being thrown back at him, nodding to his phone, allowing her to use it. “Fine but you better let me have some or no deal.”

  
“Of course I will.”

______

3 grams later, Roxy dished out a good hit or two of weed into a little baggie for Dirk as he dropped her off at her place. He headed off, happy that she was safe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG IM SO SORRY THAT I LEFT YOU GUYS AT A CLIFFHANGER AND DIDNT GET TO WRITING IT FOR ALMOST EVER BUT HERE YOU GO IM SO SORRY


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE EDITED THE REST OF THE STORY SO PLEASE GO READ IT

Dirk woke up to sunlight glaring in on him, and winced and rolled over. He had just shut his eyes before his mind registered what it had just seen. Dirk snapped them back open to look at a shirtless, sleeping Jake English in front of him. He took a moment to admire Jake’s finely sculpted chest and abs, as well as his tattoos. As shocked as he was to see it, he wanted one calm moment to admire him before he let his brain freak the fuck out. He looked longingly at Jake for little while longer before addressing the fact that not only was he himself shirtless, but also without pants. He wracked his mind for possibilities that could have lead to this that didn’t include sex. 

After about ten minutes of pondering and searching desperately through his mind for any memories of last night, he deemed himself too tired to figure it out. He sighed and decided not to bother and to just try and get some more sleep. He turned back to face the sun, pulling the covers over his eyes. 

The shift of the covers seemed to stirr Jake slightly and he shifted forward and wrapped his arms around Dirk, cuddling close. This made Dirk blush, but he didn’t dare move Jake’s arms. So he sighed and relaxed into the embrace, succumbing once more to the peaceful serenity of sleep.

* * *

 

Jake awoke with his arm around Dirk, noticing that both were shirtless and wondering what on earth had happened last night until his stomach gurgled in an ominous way to remind him what had happened.

He groaned and clutched his head as he stood, squinting angrily at the morning light, and headed over to the bathroom for some advil and what he could do of his morning rituals, given that he wasn’t home and was also unprepared. 

He started washing his face before noticing that his chest reeked of vomit too. After hunting down an advil in the medicine cabinet, he shed what was left of his clothes and hopped into the shower.

* * *

 

Dirk awoke to a cold back and the sound of water running. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, his bladder screaming at him after all the alcohol that he consumed and he had no idea how long Jake was gonna be in the shower. He figured he might as well knock and ask if he could go to the bathroom.

So he knocked. “Yo, Jake, I gotta take a leak, mind if I pop in? I promise I won’t look, and I know better than to flush, I’m not Dave.”

Jake had to ask him to repeat it, this time he quieted the spray with the palm of his hand to hear Dirk. He agreed to the request and continued his shower. 

The door opened and Dirk came in, just wearing his boxers, and he walked to the toilet and Jake tried to avoid seeing if he could catch a glimpse, but curiosity got the best of him. It was then that he realized it was pointless anyway, due to the frosted glass divider that sectioned off the shower from the rest of the bathroom. Jake refrained from hitting his head against the wall. 

Dirk finished washing his hands and was walking out of the bathroom when he heard a small “Wait!”, Dirk paused and acknowledged that Jake was heard, “I forgot to find a towel…”

The blonde chuckled and went over to the rack where the towels were kept and fetched one out, handing it to the outstretched arm poking out of the shower door. With another small chuckle, he paused at the doorway, asking, “Anything else to be of service, your highness?” 

Jake stepped out of the shower then, towel around his hips, running a hand down his face, droplets of water clinging to the hairs on the back of his neck and rolling down the planes of his well-sculpted chest. 

It sure as hell wiped the snide smirk of Dirk’s face. “No thank you. But if I remember correctly, you wore most of my vomit, so you might want to hop in.”

The older man just stood there dumbfounded for a second, a tad preoccupied by the sights in front of him, and then a second or two more to realize what the brunette was saying. “Huh?”

“I nailed you pretty good last n-no no wait that came out wrong, what I meant to say was I pretty much hurled all over you. You might want a shower.”

“So  _ that’s _ why we’re less than fully clothed.” Dirk concluded finally, taking a step into the bathroom from his position in the doorway. 

“Yes, one of us probably put our clothes in the wash.” Jake said with confidence, as the other began removing his shades, “... I hope.” 

“You can go check while I have a shower. If anything you can borrow some of my clothes.” He replied, stripping out of his boxers, unnoticed by the younger male.

“Yes but it isn’t the clothing I worry about so much as the contents of the pocket-ssssssstripping.” He finished saying as he turned to look at the Strider.

Dirk stood in the doorway, fully undressed now and not shameful in the least about it. Jake blushed and turned around, hunting down the dryer. Dirk ran his hands through his hair and realized he had yet to take his fingerless leather gloves off. As he removed them he told Jake, “Well, the washer and dryer are downstairs if you wanna go check.”

“Will I be able to find the stairs easily?” Jake called after Dirk, who was returning into the bathroom with his sweet, sweet ass. 

“If you can’t find them, don’t be afraid to open doors, not that it’s behind a door, but…” the blonde called after him, shutting the bathroom door behind him.

Jake went to go see if he could find the stairs. Sure enough, they weren’t too hard to spot. He headed down them and found a chrome metal washer and dryer set, and opened up the washer to fish out their belongings. He threw the clothes that weren’t his into the dryer, finally finding his jeans. He stuck his hands into his pockets for his wallet, sighing in relief when he found that it wasn’t in there and his money didn’t get wrecked by the washer. He checked for his keys too, which were also missing. Good thing too, he didn’t much fancy his car keys getting ruined.

He tossed the rest of the clothes over to the dryer and set it to 50 minutes, figuring it should do the trick. He headed back to Dirk’s room to see if he had emerged from his en suite bathroom. He had not, so Jake continued looking for his wallet and keys. 

He started with the bedside table, to no avail. That would make sense if he had taken off his pants during sex, but they didn’t have sex. So it must be somewhere else in the house. Dirk had said he didn’t mind Jake opening doors and poking around, right? 

He started out in the sitting room, figuring that it would be the most likely place that it would wind up. He checked all the tables; on, under, and around them, to no avail. He started looking in the other rooms.

* * *

 

Dirk finished off his shower and emerged from the bathroom, toweling off. He looked up to find Jake frantically searching through the house, and it didn't look like he was looking for the dryer. 

“Couldn't find the stairs?”

Jake jumped at the unexpected appearance of Dirk, slightly flustered because he was caught appearing to ransack his host’s home. “N-no, actually. I found it just fine. But my keys and wallet were not inside, somewhat thankfully. At least they're safe but now I can't seem to find the buggers.”

“Ah, shit. Well. I'll help you look. You have some memory of last night, right?”

“Very little. I remember a drinking contest and calling Roxy and singing to her, and things get foggy after that. I remembered the puking after I smelt it on myself. I think I was straddling you at the time and that's why most of it was on you-”

“Wait but why were you straddling me?”

“I believe we were making out, but I am not terribly sure.”

Dirk did his best to hide his blush. He had put his shades back on so that helped. Jake was a little dismayed, he had been hoping to catch a glimpse of Dirk’s eyes. 

Dirk cleared his throat, noticing that the two of them were still in towels. “Well. I'm going to go put some clothes on. Would you like to borrow something?”

Jake nodded and stuttered “Eh, yes, actually. Thank you.”

Dirk headed to a dresser, dropping his towel on the way, motioning for Jake to follow to pick something out. Dirk grabbed some boxers and slipped them on before fishing out the rest of his outfit. 

Jake stood slightly behind him, waiting for him to be done. Dirk stepped away and jerked his head towards it as he started pulling his clothes on. 

Jake looked around for some jeans, he figured he could just wear his boxers from last night. He pulled out a pair and checked the tag to see if it would fit, only to find it had been cut out. 

“Uh, mate, what size are you?” 

“Shouldn't you buy me din-oh you mean clothing. Yeah I'm a medium.” 

Jake grumbled at the lack of specifics and figured it would be better to try them on. At least the shirts would most likely fit. Men’s medium is a very versatile size apparently. 

Jake grabbed a random shirt and pulled it out, setting it beside the jeans. It was the. He noticed that the blue shirt he had happened to pull out was a Rainbow Dash t-shirt. He was at a loss of what to say. He had heard of this television show before but really didn't know much about it. 

He opened his mouth to ask Dirk about it but the shirt had suddenly disappeared. Dirk was over grabbing a belt. Was it a ghost? 

“Dirk?” He inquired, getting a “mhm?” As a response, “Do you, by any chance, know what happened to the blue shirt I just set out? It was just here a second ago.”

“I was over here putting my belt on. How could I have possibly done anything?” He said, laughing as he used his slight of hand to hide the shirt quickly. Flashstepping comes in handy more than you think. 

“That's true. Too bad. I was hoping to learn more about that particular program.”

“R-really?” Dirk tried to say in the most nonchalant manner he could, but some of his excitement still managed to leak through. 

“Yes, actually. I’ve heard about it but don't know very much of it. Anyway, I suppose I'll just get another shirt.”

As he did so, Dirk made a mental note to get him into MLP later. After Jake retrieved a shirt, he went to go collect his boxers from the bathroom, putting them on in there and depositing the towel in the laundry basket. 

He came back out to put the laid-out ensemble on, and he didn't notice Dirk’s quick last-minute once over of his body from his doorway before disappearing into the kitchen.

* * *

 

As Jake attempted to control his hair, wondering how on earth Dirk managed it, he caught the smell of coffee wafting through the morning? afternoon? air. 

Once Jake had finished primping, he followed his nose (to the fruity taste that shows) and as he entered the kitchen, he could detect the scent of toast and eggs that were unnoticeable over the coffee before. 

“Are you allergic to anything?” Dirk asked, slightly shocking Jake, who had been thinking that his approach had been relatively quiet. 

“U-um, no, no. Not that I know of, at least.”

Dirk seemed to ponder on that little tidbit of information a while before shrugging and assuming the brunette had tried eggs before. Considering that Jake seemed to be British and Dirk was fairly sure that Brits have eggs in a lot of traditional dishes? He shrugged and figured that Jake was not blind. Perhaps lacking his glasses for the time being, but not blind. If he had objections to what Dirk was preparing, he would probably speak up. 

“Um, so…” Jake started, attempting to make conversation, “have you heard from Roxy yet today?”

This made Dirk pause. With recent events, it would definitely do good to keep an eye on her. “Actually not yet, but that's a good thing to keep in mind, thank you.” The blonde said as he glanced over his shoulder to make eye contact with his guest before returning to the meal at hand. “Come to think of it, I haven't actually checked my phone yet, so maybe she did get a hold of me. While I'm making this, you can go look for your stuff. I'll call when it's ready.”

“Ok, sounds good.” It definitely beat awkwardly standing there looking at his (quite nice) back. Jake really wasn't one to endure awkwardness. So he set off to look for his belongings. 

Before breakfast he managed to locate his glasses, and afterwards he and Dirk managed to hunt down his keys and wallet. Which were in the same place, thankfully. 

Jake and Dirk were sitting on the couch, and Dirk came to the realization of something. “Wait, you said you were on my lap because we were making out?”

“I think so, yeah.” Jake said, a little disappointed that they had (maybe) kissed and neither of them could even remember it. 

Jake looked at his watch, seeing that it was 2pm. “Uh, shouldn't we be opening the shop?” 

Dirk had a blank look on his face as this settled in, then let out a loud “FUCK!” and promptly bolted downstairs to quickly open up shop. 

Jake followed suit, laughing slightly at the man he had come to be quite fond of in quite a short time. 


	6. Chapter 6

Dirk rushed down the steps, Jake hot on his heels. He froze in his tracks and told Jake to go on while he went back for his keys. He returned and locked the door as he headed outside, where the Brit was waiting.

They headed into the shop and got set up. As they were doing so, Jake idly asked “You didn't miss any appointments did you?”

“I don't think I did. But I'll log on to the computer and check.”

Jake finished wiping down the seats and sanitizing the booths by the time he got an answer. “No, thankfully I didn't miss any clients. Although, there's a piercing booked for 3:30, this will be your first one here at Calm Tempest. There’s also a full body at 5. We’ll both be working on it, since it’s a very simple design, and it will help it go faster.”

Jake looked up as that sunk in, Dirk continued. “So have you ever really pierced before?”

“Of course, it was on my resume. I wouldn't dare lie when people's flesh as well at health are what I'm working with.” Jake countered a bit insulted that Dirk would even need to ask.

“Ok but I mean with a needle and not a gun”

“Not as often as I would have liked but.. I have a decent amount of experience there. That's what happens when you live in tiny towns like mine. Parents only let their kids pierce their ears and that's mostly what folk around there wanted anyway. There were always those that didn't want to conform and those people came to me. Of course, I practiced beforehand on pig’s flesh. Anchored piercings, ones close to bones, nipple piercings, etc.”

“I see. I’ve been meaning to learn it myself, since it’s kind of a thing that you should have when you work/run a tattoo parlour, but… truth is… I’m afraid of needles.”

“Wait, what?!! Dirk-”

“Yeah, I know what you’re going to say. ‘What about the tattoo gun?’” He paused, Jake was silent. “Am I wrong?”

“No.”

“Yeah, so for me, the tattoo gun is a different thing entirely. First off, it doesn’t look like a needle. Secondly, it isn’t going though skin, it’s just poking into it. Going through skin is….,” He shuddered, “Just, it’s not fun.”

“That makes more sense. Usually people who work at or run places like this usually can do both. It seemed odd to me that you didn’t know how.”

The blonde sighed and clasped his hands together behind his head and turned in his chair to look at Jake, who had finished wiping down quite a while ago and come to stand behind Dirk at the computer. “Well. Now you know. Fun fact about Dirk number 584.” Feeling a little vulnerable, he turned back to the computer screen and finished checking the emails and online appointments.

Soon enough 3:30 rolled around and the client came through the door. They had a septum piercing, something Jake had done before. It was done in under 30 minutes. Jake knew what he was doing, but it didn’t make it any easier to maneuver around up a nose. He tidied up and gave her the aftercare kit, as well as the instructions, even though she had other visible piercings. Better safe than sorry.

When the client was gone, Jake’s curiosity was back. “So I’m guessing your fear of needles extends to medical ones?”

“Oh hell yeah. I hate getting shots.”

“Who on this planet actually likes getting shots?”

Dirk paused and looked at Jake blankly. “That is a very good point.” It was also a point that made Dirk feel a fair bit less vulnerable. He was glad Jake had said that, even if it was a broad comment that no one likes getting shots, it still made him feel less alone.

They continued to shoot the breeze until 5, with a walk-in tattoo of some birds on her ankle. She picked Jake to work on that tattoo. He could tell that she was flirting with Jake. Dirk really didn’t like that idea all too much. On the bright side, Jake seemed to be brushing the comments off.

The 5pm client came in as Jake was almost finished the ankle tattoo. What excellent timing. The client was tall, slender, with an amazing figure. She had snakebite lip rings with black lipstick that somehow wasn’t transferred onto her rings every time she closed her mouth. Her eye makeup was smoky and dark. Dirk wasn’t into women, but he was considering making an exception.

She cleared her throat, snapping him out of it as she said her name. “Porrim Maryam, 5 o’clock?”

“Ah, y-yes. I have you right here. Full body, simple swirling lines right?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Is it ok if my co-worker assists with it? It isn’t that complex and it would get done faster with two of us.”

“Oh, by all means. I made sure to eat beforehand just in case.”

“Good.” He gestured for her to follow him as he continued. “Glad you know that body tattoos can be lengthy.” Dirk showed her to the room. “I’ll let you get undressed and comfortable, I’m gonna go grab the supplies and tell my co-worker to come in when he finishes up.”

She nodded in response and he left the room, shutting the door behind him. He came to get his tools from the main parlour, speaking as he passed the brunette, who was now wrapping the tattoo. “Hey, when you finish up, remember to come help out in the back room.”

“Got it.” He gave her a kit and the routine talk, the familiar phrases ghosting over his ears as he gathered his things, not hearing the words, but focusing on that voice. God, the timbre and pitch of his words, not to mention that accent. The way he was gushing about Jake’s voice was making him uneasy, but luckily he was out of earshot in the next room as he set up his tattoo gun.

Porrim was already undressed and wearing nothing but her lace panties that were skimpy enough to work around easily. Dirk noticed this out of the corner of his eye as he was setting up. He thought he might as well get Jake’s gun set up too. Once that was done, he went and got the stencils.

As he was putting on the torso ones (since it was slightly more difficult to do the ones that wind around an arm or leg several times) Jake came in.

“Hey. Wash up and help with the stencils?” Dirk asked as he wet a stencil and transferred it.

“Yeah, sure, just let me get my gun and ink.”

“No I already got it.” Dirk pointed across the room to Jake’s station.

“Oh. Thanks.” Jake washed up and put on gloves before grabbing one of the arm stencils and moving over to the woman. She met his eyes as he motioned for her to hold out her arm and he felt a slight jolt of electricity go down his spine.

She. Was. Hot. He gulped and ignored the blush rising to his cheeks as he was thankful that the chair would cover him if he got a boner, which he was trying to keep at bay.

She smiled somewhat sensually whenever they had skin contact and that was not helping his situation. He finished up the arm stencils then moved onto her leg ones, since he was already on this side of her.

The stencil started fairly high up on her thigh and he was sure he was beat red when she lifted her leg and cheekily put it on one of his shoulders as he worked. Dirk noticed this and called him out over it.

“What, never been between a woman's legs before?”

Jake looked up, startled and now even more red. “N-NO! I have. It's just…. Never on someone as… Um…” He went the crimson colour of blood as he stuttered to find a word to describe how pretty/hot/amazing she was.

“Go on, you can say it, sweetie.” The woman said soothingly.

“Attractive” Jake finished in a voice barely audible. He aggressively blushed as he saw Dirk try to hide his snicker out of the corner of his eye. Determined to move past the situation, he continued his work.

He looked up at the woman. She was checking her phone. She noticed him making eye contact with her and she gave him a wink. He wondered when he would be given a chance to get the blush out of his cheeks, if ever.

She went back to checking her phone. He was so close to her. Her skin smelt amazing, he could feel the heat of her thigh radiating onto him. He chanced a look at her crotch. It was all lace. He could see glimpses of…!! He quickly went back to his work, trying to get the stencil to wrap right.

As he leaned over, he caught wind of her intimate scents, dripping with pheromones, and GOD did it smell good. He was somewhere between ½ and ¾ hard as he went to go get the water to transfer it.

He patted it on, transfixed by the water rolling down her thigh, peeling portions of the transfer paper up as he went along.

When he pulled it off, he had to wipe it down, and he was kind of dreading that since some water got pretty close to… Where her thighs met. He did it as carefully as he could.

Dirk was finished his side of the stencils as well. “Alright Porrim, would you like to have a look in the mirror to make sure it's what you want?”

Ah. So that was her name. She got up and went to the tall mirror to observe the stencils. She nodded and came to sit back down. They readied their guns and got started, ready for the long tat ahead.

When they finished, it was 11pm and they both had hand cramps. Porrim looked herself over in the mirror and nodded approvingly before getting her phone and taking a bunch of pictures before allowing herself to get bandaged.

Jake handed her 2 aftercare kits just to be certain she had enough. She said she knew what to do with it, but Dirk told her anyway, just in case.

Bandaged and dressed, Porrim got her things, paid, and left. As they were cleaning up, Jake did his best to avoid Dirk. He was still mostly hard and he did not want to be mocked for it by the guy he was crushing on. Maybe he could just slip off and masturb-

“Hey,” Dirk started, putting his things away, “you have fun there between her legs?”

Jake stammered and flushed red again, resuming tidying up with a renewed vigor to avoid the question.

As he was coming back into the little room, Dirk stopped him with a hand on his chest. Jake avoided his gaze, looking anywhere but at Dirk, hoping he didn't see his blush or his boner.

But Dirk, he was just devouring the way Jake looked right now. With all the blushing and the biting of lips that he thought has gone unnoticed, Dirk was getting a little hot and bothered. And from a glance down at Jake’s pants, he could see that Jake was the same.

“Looks like someone got a little excited.”

“S-shut up. What, are you gonna do something about it?” Jake snapped back, still flustered but trying his best to hold his ground.

Dirk's eyes went lustful and dark behind his shades, unseen by the brunette. “Was that an invitation or a challenge?”

Dirk began backing Jake up against the wall, then pinned him there with his hands on either side of Jake's head. The brunette blushed harder and gulped.

Dirk grabbed him by the jawline and kissed him. A bit shocked, but more than enough appreciative, Jake quickly returned the frantic heat of the kiss, deepening it with exploring tongues.

Dirk pressed his body up against Jake’s, moving his hips rhythmically. Jake let out a sigh at the much welcomed friction.

Dirk pinned Jake’s hands above his head, switching them into one hand so he could slide up Jake's shirt (even though it was Dirk’s and Jake was just borrowing it) in order for him to take it off.

Jake started getting a little handsy as well. He pushed at Dirk’s hips with his own, and once his shirt was off, he undid his belt and unzipped the fly, sighing as he did so.

Dirk saw his opportunity and took it, sliding his tongue into Jake’s sigh, resuming the kiss. Jake then found Dirk’s zipper and made quick work of it, sliding his hands in around his hips and then back, to shed him of his pants as well as get a good handful of ass.

Dirk pressed him back to the wall, one hand holding Jake’s hip, the leg of which was now wrapped around Dirk. His other hand ran up and down Jake’s back, finding the most interest in the dip of his lower back.

Jake used his foot to shed Dirk the rest of the way free of his pants. Dirk moved down along his jawline and to his neck. Jake moved his head to the side, and ground into Dirk, letting out a slight moan.

Dirk's hands were shedding Jake of his trousers now too, and greatly appreciating his ass. Their hips were rolling against each other in sporadic harmony, but Jake’s member had been confined to it’s cloth prison for too long.

As Dirk sucked on his neck, the younger male whispered into his ear “before we get entirely naked, should we move this elsewhere?” And there was a moment as he felt Dirk pause in his ministrations, and   
could hear him considering it.

The blonde nibbled his way up to Jake's ear and whispered back, “Very tempting offer. Though I doubt we would make it upstairs, I'm really liking the thought of me banging you on the office desk.” He emphasized the word with a firm hip roll, eliciting a groan out of both of them.

They sloppily kissed their way to the office, locking the door behind them. Dirk swiped his hand across the contents of the desk, spinning them both around so Jake’s ass was against the desk.

The Brit shuffled up onto the desk, Dirk crawling on all fours with him. Jake's hands were trying to scrabble for purchase; both on the desk and on the side of Dirk’s face. Dirk took off his shirt, Jake following suit.

Dirk leaned back down to kiss Jake, then moving to his jaw, neck, collarbone, chest, stomach, and finally, the scrap of fabric keeping him from seeing what he had been longing for since his beautiful, British ass walked into his tattoo parlour.

He hooked his fingers into the waistband of Jake’s underwear. He tugged them down, kissing the flesh on his hip bones and thighs as he pulled them off. He kissed his way back up those finely sculpted legs and settled his eyes on the prize.

He leaned down to wrap his mouth around it, eliciting a groan out of the brunette. He bobbed his head up and down, twisting and pressing his tongue into and around the marvellous dick that he hoped would be inside of him soon.

He pulled up for air, switching to stroking him with his hand while he took this moment to admire the beauty that was laid out on the desk in front of him. He sighed in admiration, awe, and disbelief. “God, you're really fucking gorgeous, you know that, right?”

At this, Jake went a shade of crimson that matched the mahogany on the desk below him. “No. I’ve gotten handsome, sexy, and hot. But never gorgeous.”

“Well, you're all that, as well as stunningly beautiful.”

He went even brighter red and hid his face in his hands. “I'm really not.” He mumbled. He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to ignore his redness, moving to rid Dirk of his shorts now, too. The blonde helped him, both him and his penis were elated to be free of his cotton prison.

Jake looked at it in awe. “D-Dirk, you're hung like a horse!”

“No, no, it's not that big, is it? I'm sure there's bigger.”

“I'm sure too but… By God, that is a work of art. Never in my life have I seen a cock I have wanted to put in my mouth this badly.”

“Then what's stopping you?” Dirk smirked, leaning back on the desk. Jake blushed harder and gulped again. He leaned closer and pushed Dirk up and onto the desk chair, then settled between his legs. Looking down anticipatorily at the sight before him, Dirk bit his lip, sighing, “Never thought I'd see the day”

Jake looked up from settling down in between his legs, “What was that, mate?”

“Nothing. Carry on.” And with that he took hold of it gingerly. Then, a surge of confidence hit him and he gripped it tighter. He cleared his throat and brought his lips to it, licking around the head and shaft before sliding it into his mouth. He was surprised how much he got in, considering Dirk’s size, but he was determined to please him. He tried to go a little farther and ended up gagging.

He looked up at Dirk to see how he reacted to that, wondering if he turned him off. To his luck, as well as surprise, Dirk really seemed to like that. Maybe it felt good, and he didn't mind the gagging sounds. After all, he must be used to it with his size. Jake really wasn't all that familiar with blowjobs but he tried some of the techniques Dirk used on him, and sure enough; they were a success.

“Hey, Jake?”

Jake looked up at him through his lashes, a sight which made Dirk weak in the knees. He pulled back to talk. “Yes? Am I doing something wrong?”

“What? No! No no no no. Not at all. No I was just wondering if you wanted to move on with the real show, or if you just wanted to stick to sucking.”

Jake thought about this now that the frantic lust had settled a bit now. He knew that someone would have to take it in the arse, and he was really not comfortable with being the one to get it. Also condoms.

“Well, I don't really fancy taking it in the arse, and I don't have any condoms with me but aside from that, I would love to!”

Dirk wasn't surprised by this revelation. He was also blessing himself for being smart enough to put condoms in the drawer. “I can work with both of those stipulations. Shall we?” He said, reaching for the lube and condoms.

Jake got up from his position on the floor, wiping his mouth. Just then there was a knock at the door and an uncertain “Hello? The shop was open but there was no one here, I’d like a tattoo?” The person tried the doorknob. They quickly got what clothes they had on, cursing themselves for not grabbing their pants from the other room.

“Uh, yeah just a second! I'll be right out. Go find a chair and get comfortable and we’ll talk.”

“Alright.” The person said as they walked into the front parlour.

“Bless your soul and your quick thinking, Dirk.” Jake said, giving him a big smooch on the lips before they dashed to the back room and grabbed their pants quickly.

“I'll go out. You come in a minute or so later and say that you were in the bathroom if he asks.”

“Right.”

Dirk walked out, greeting the customer. “Hi. Dirk St- Dave? What are you doing here?”

“I want a tattoo, duh. As for why in your tattoo parlour. This happened by chance. Your store has good reviews. This is John by the way. John, meet Dirk, my brother.”

John stood up and shook Dirk's hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Sir? Why are you calling me that?”

“Sorry, this is just the first time I've gotten to meet any of Dave’s relatives.”

Dirk took a second to look at the two of them, and then the pieces fell together. “Ohhh I see. Is this your boyfriend?”

John immediately blushed. Dave stood up to walk over and put his arm around John.

“You bet it is. Also. Did I interrupt you in the middle of you getting some tail? I was looking for people and saw the pants in the back room.”

Dirk didn't have a chance to answer as Jake came out into the parlour.

“I'll take that as a yes.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave comes in for a tattoo and finds out about Dirk and Jake

“Nice to meet you, and as for your question, it's none of your business” Dirk said as Jake was walking in.

 

“Oh, no I take that back, I definitely know you were getting laid now. Who’s the hottie?” Jake and John both reddened instantly and John slapped Dave’s shoulder. 

 

“DAVE!!” 

 

“What?!!”

 

“That's my uncle!!”

 

And at that point everyone in the room went quiet. The Striders looked between the two brunettes in confusion and disbelief. 

 

“Uncle?!!” Dirk managed to squeak out.

 

“Honestly, Dirk, is it really that surprising?” Jake replied, getting sheepish.

 

“How old even are you, kid? 16-17?”

 

“18 actually” John said, softly.

 

“How old are your parents, then?”

 

“You know what? Dad’s actually really dodgy about his age, but I think he’s like late 40’s?” the young brunette speculated.

 

Dirk nodded in acknowledgement.The brief chitchat had given Dirk time to calm everything  _ down there _ down. “Anyway, how are you gonna afford this, and do you know what you’re getting?”

 

“Excuse me, dickbag, I  _ do _ have a job. I’ve been saving up. It’s pretty intricate, so the other reason for coming to you is that I finish the payment with what money I don’t have by doing volunteer work for you around the shop. Plus I need to finish my volunteer hours for school.”

 

Dirk pondered this idea for a few seconds, and nodded. This could give Jake more time and opportunity to practice his skill, help Dirk with things, and having someone around to be a secretary and janitor would give them more artists available to work. 

 

“Ok, are you cool with being secretary/janitor/sanitization/prep?” 

 

“Yeah, sure, sounds good.” 

“Deal, Lil Man?” Dave grimaced at the name but stuck out his hand to grasp Dirks hand a little harder than necessary. 

 

“Deal, Smuppet Master.” He replied with a growing smirk on his face, watching as his brothers smile waned; as if he was leeching the smile off his face and onto his own. 

 

“That was not cool.”

 

“Smuppet master?” Jake repeated slowly, questioning the phrase. Dirk promptly ignored him and moved on.

 

“Dave, you gonna show me what you want or what?” 

 

Dave took out his phone and opened up his photos to look for the design and then showed Dirk the intricate sleeve design, swirling with several characters, symbols and designs that were recognizable to Dirk, and he knew that each of these meant a lot to Dave and were both milestones in his life and things he cared about. It was intricate and well thought out.

 

“How long did this take you?” Jake asked, leaning in to look at the design as well.

 

“A fair amount of time, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. Still not sure if it should go on my arm or leg.”

 

“Shouldn’t you have decided that before you came here?”

 

“Hey. You saw the design, I love it, I’m proud of that fucking shit ok? I know    
I want it on my body, Bro, and it honestly doesn’t bug me where it goes.”

 

“Alright, whatever. Your body not mine.”

 

“Actually it’s John’s. I just rent it.” Dave quipped back with a wink, glancing over at John to see him blush profusely and shove Dave’s shoulder playfully. 

 

“DAAAVVVEEEEEEE!!” John groaned, wishing the blonde wasn’t as open as he was about their personal affairs. Before Dave could say something else to further embarrass the smaller teen, Dirk decided to get the ball rolling.

 

“Alright kiddo,” this title wiped the shit-eating grin off his face to be replaced with a scowl. “How much do you have saved up for this piece? It’s pretty intricate, and depending on the size you want it, it’ll come to like, $350-$500, unless you want it absolutely massive.”

 

“No, like I said, leg, shoulder, or arm. I have $350 saved up.” 

 

“I have $25 and 75 cents.” John added in, as if they were sharing the amounts of money in their pockets.

 

Dave looked at him and chuckled. “Ok, so are you getting something yourself, or adding to my down payment?”

 

“Neither, actually. I was just saying… buuuutt, now that you mention it, I have always kind of wanted my ears pierced, do I have enough for that sir?”

 

“Ew, don’t call me that,” “Sorry,” “Anyway do you want both or just one?” John looked up from the floor from his slight scolding.

 

“Both, if that’s ok?” John meekly said as he looked back to the floor again. God this kid was so embarrassed, no wonder Dave liked him so much; he’s probably having the time of his life making this kid blush to the moon and back.

 

“Why the hell wouldn’t it be? It’ll be $40 though; are you going to be volunteering as well?” Dirk started gathering some tools up for the process as he spoke. 

 

“You know what, sure!! Might as well!” The kid said, beaming. Then it fell as he came to a realization. “Wait, will it hurt?” 

 

“It’s the least painful place to be pierced, and it really doesn’t hurt much at all.” 

 

“Plus,” Jake said, looping an arm around his nephew’s shoulders, “we’re professionals.” 

 

“Hey kiddo, c’mere. You need to pick out some earrings. Here’s some studs to look a-”

 

“What are you talking about? His stud is right here” Dave said, stepping over to lean on the wall John was by, trying to be nonchalant and suave. 

 

John facepalmed immediately and groaned. “Can you not behave for like 5 damn minutes, Dave? DON’T respond to that, it was rhetorical.” Damn, seems the kid knows Dave decently well then. 

 

Dirk pulled the stud selector out of the desk drawer and handed it to John, Dave leaning in to peruse the earrings as well. 

 

They looked for a bit and hmm-ed in thought, before John said “I kinda like the silver ones with the blue in the centre.”

 

“I was  _ just _ about to say that. I love them! They would look so good on you.” Dave exclaimed, gently pushing the other teens hair sweetly out of the way to envision it better. 

“Alright, would you like your uncle to do the honours?” Jake asked, a paternal glow sort of humming inside of him, filling him with excitement. 

 

“Yeah, sure. I’d like that.” John said with a smile, following Jake as he prepared a station out front. 

 

Dirk moved to get set up for tattooing, half expecting Dave to follow him, and when he didn’t he looked back over to see him standing right next to John, who seemed calm, excited, and a tad nervous about his first piercing. Dirk smiled and continued setting up while his little brother gave his boyfriend moral support. 

 

He felt a sense of pride in the kind of person Dave had turned out to be. He was a reckless little brat for most of his life, but Dirk was just glad that he didn’t fuck up entirely with raising the kid. He took some time to prepare a stencil and let his mind wander again; what kind of relationship did John and Jake have as uncle and nephew? Did they see each other a lot? Was it just at family gatherings? Every family functions differently, he was just curious about Jake and John’s now. 

 

He had set up the station one over from John, in order not to crowd the trio while the piercing process was going on. By the time he finished setting up, Jake was getting ready to pierce John. The younger male was starting to get a tiny bit nervous. Dave was holding his hand, telling him a funny story to distract him. 

 

John winced when the needle went in, but kept focusing on Dave and the story. Soon enough the earring was in.

 

“How was that, John?” Jake checked.

 

“Honestly? Not that bad. I’m ready for the other one.” John turned his head to the other side and motioned for Dave to switch sides, which he did promptly.

 

He held on to John’s hand, but John seemed much more confident this time around. John winced a little this time too, but not as much as the first time. Soon enough he was finished, and sporting nice sterling silver studs with sapphire blue gems in the centres. They looked really nice on him. 

 

Dave said as much, “Damn, we chose well. They look really good on you.” He leaned in to give John a celebratory kiss on the lips.

 

“Awwwww, that’s just darling.” Jake said, smiling widely as he tidied up the supplies. 

 

“That’s gay as fuck.” Dirk said, leaning in the doorway, observing the scene.

 

“Yeah, says fuckin’ you!” His younger brother quipped back instantaneously.

 

“You watch your fuckin’ language!” “Make me.”    
  
Dirk looked at Dave incredulously for a second, giving him a look. “You really wanna be sassing me right before you’re planning on entrusting me with a tattoo?”

 

That shut Dave up pretty quick. Meanwhile, Jake was almost done cleaning up. John stood up as Dave kind of sulked into the other room, resulting in Dirk calling him a drama queen in his head. 

 

John followed into the other room, where Dave laid on the chair. Dirk hesitated before he asked, “So do you have a paper copy with you? I need to make a stencil.” 

 

Dave looked away and said nothing. His brother heaved a sigh. “Dave for something so intricate as this, I need to either draw a copy out or scan the original”

 

John piped in, “Dave, we can always go home, or maybe, book an appointment?”    
  


Dave whined unintelligibly and reluctantly, but got up and started walking to the front of the shop again. Dirk sailed past and messed up his hair, “Quit being a drama queen, I’m not going anywhere, Lil Man.”   
  
Dave shot Dirk a seething glare through his shades he got from John years ago and hadn’t taken off since. He was about to argue when Dirk put his hand on his brother’s shoulder calmly and told him with a sincere and gentle tone, “Hey, by the way, I love the design. I can tell how long you worked on it and how much it means to you. I won’t let you down.”

 

Dave looked up at Dirk and swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall. Nope. Not here, not now. Not in front of everyone. Instead, Dave nodded and mumbled out a ‘thanks’. Dave hardly ever got recognition from the men who raised them, and it was a little overwhelming to have his hard work finally be recognized. Not to mention praised. 

 

John, noticing this, put his arm around Dave and headed out. “C’mon, let’s go home so we can get the sketchbook, huh?” Dave nodded at this and smiled. “Hey, nice to meet you, Dirk! See you Uncle Jake!!” And with that, they headed out of the store.

 

There was a silent pause for a while. The two were just content to watch their family depart, before Dirk said finally, “It’s  _ SO _ fucking weird when he calls you that.”   
  


* * *

 

 

Sure enough, he came back with the sketchbook, but by that time, John had convinced him to make an appointment and come back later because the tattoo would take ages to finish. 

 

“Alright, when’ll it be?” Dirk asked, standing at the computer with the timesheet open. 

 

“Next Thursday night? Is that open?” Dave asked. 

 

“Uhhh…Yeah it is. What time?” “5pm on?” “Yeah sounds good. We’ll do the outline first, ok?”

  
Dave nodded but bit his lip. “Well how long does that mean I have to wait?”    
  
“I could try to do as much as I can, bro. If I don’t take anyone after that night and we work on it late I could probably finish it that night. But that would add to the cost.” 

 

He contemplated this for a moment, and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”

 

“Alright, it’s in the computer. See ya later, bro.” 

 

“See ya!” “Later, Bro.” John and Dave said, respectively, as they left. 

 

Dirk turned to Jake and looked at the time. “Hey, so wanna finish what we started or is that just me?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is one chapter of more to come. Posts will be irregular and i may forget about this or something, if i do im sorry ^^; also please review and tell me what you think


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